The GOP was right to be afraid of Sonia Sotomayor

Politically, you had to wonder why the GOP was so up in arms about Sonia Sotomayor -- it was terrible politics, after all, to alienate Latino voters as their power as a voting group continues to grow. Maybe it's because Sotomayor is proving to be the Republicans' worst nightmare: A Latina who's wise enough not to buckle to the clout of American corporations:

WASHINGTON -- In her maiden Supreme Court appearance last week, Justice Sonia Sotomayor made a provocative comment that probed the foundations of corporate law.

During arguments in a campaign-finance case, the court's majority conservatives seemed persuaded that corporations have broad First Amendment rights and that recent precedents upholding limits on corporate political spending should be overruled.

But Justice Sotomayor suggested the majority might have it all wrong -- and that instead the court should reconsider the 19th century rulings that first afforded corporations the same rights flesh-and-blood people have.

This isthe true battle for the heart and soul of the Supreme Court -- and of America. Not all the -- pardon my initials -- BS that wastes everyone's time during these increasingly pointless confirmation hearings. The real story of justice in America since the 2004 election is this, that George W. Bush appointed two of the most corporatist flunkies ever to the bench in John Roberts and Samuel Alito and now we have Sotomayor seeking to tip those scales back toward the people.

It's probably not enough. Sometime in the coming months, the Roberts-Alito court is going to vote 5-4 to allow a flood of corporate money into American politics, which will probably result in legislation that will make the billionaire bailout of Wall Street seem as tame as voting to rename a post office. You want to know the real problem with Justice Sotomayor...it's that we don't have four more like her.

Oh, and the best "news" coverage of the corporate takeover of America these days. It's on the Colbert Report (below). What, you thought you were going to see it in Time magazine?